From Booklist , February 15, 1996

A sense of displacement pervades the stories in this first collection. Although many of the stories are set in the South, they are not specifically southern. Most often, they take place between here and there, both geographically and figuratively. Specific locales or epiphanous moments might be the road to Daytona Beach, as in "Born Yesterday" ; a high-school gym where evacuees take shelter during a storm in "Port Isabel Hurricane"; or, in "Bum Me Up," a middle-aged man's encounter with a Jerry Lee Lewis-type singer whom he knew as a child and has held as an icon over the years. Characters tend to be outsiders, often on the run, sometimes from failed relationships. Sometimes, too, the most enduring relationships are also the most unlikely, as in "CSA," in which a white antique-store owner, a dealer in Confederate memorabilia, and his black assistant have a perfect understanding. The stories are strengthened by a specificity of detail only occasionally lapsing into over explanation. -Mary Ellen Quinn Copyright© 1996, American Library Association. All rights reserved

Synopsis:
Set in Memphis, Florida, New York, New Orleans, and elsewhere, these stories deliver a vision of an America where the social and emotional ground shifts constantly underfoot. Full of the restless imagery and force of the deepest blues and country music, it is a work of masterful craft and raw beauty. Winner of a James Michener Award.

Synopsis:
Fans of Denis Johnson and Thom Jones will enjoy these 12 startling stories that range over the breadth of the American landscape. A dialogue between traditional stories pitched in unusual keys and a series of "blueses"--short, voice-driven pieces that evoke a unique and uncanny mood of longing--Blues and Trouble offers a unique shock of both surprise and recognition.

Synopsis:
Exploring the diverse landscape of American life, twelve stories capture the lives of people caught between circumstance and their own natures or on the run from fate, from a Jewish couple encountering a dealer in Nazi memorabilia to the troubled family of a Gulf Coast fisherman awaiting a hurricane. A first collection.

In this extraordinary first book of stories, Tom Piazza delivers a tough and haunting vision of an America where the social, emotional, and spiritual ground shifts constantly underfoot. Set in Memphis, Florida, New York, New Orleans, and elsewhere, Blues And Trouble offers a series of startling portraits - the troubled family of a Gulf Coast fisherman awaits a hurricane, a Jewish couple visiting the South encounter a dealer in Nazi memorabilia, an aging rock and roll piano player confronts an adoring specter from his past - alternating with a series of "blueses," shorter, voice-driven pieces that evoke a unique and uncanny mood of longing.